DarkWind: 2nd Book, WindDemon Trilogy by Charlotte Boyett-Compo Page B

them go,” Caitlin advised.
    The warrior and the physician stared at one another for a long moment then Nyndham informed them the decision was moot. The ship was out of range and into the wormhole.
    McGregor turned away, his eyes dark. He pushed past Lisa and left the sickbay.
    “I hope we did the right thing,” Lisa said.
    Caitlin nodded. “So do I, sweetie.” She shook her head. “So do I.”
     
    Iyan went up to the bridge and sat down in the captain’s chair. His gaze was locked on the panoramic sweep of the asteroids darting toward the viewing screen. The crew he had brought on board The Orion from The Ravenwind was going about their duties, monitoring the ship’s instruments and environment. He had nothing to do but sit there and watch them work. Putting a hand to his forehead, he lowered his head into his palm and closed his eyes.
    The female called Barb had related to him the horrors of her childhood in a country called Nambulia on Earth. With quiet dignity, she had explained the excruciating details of her ordeal. Her acceptance of her fate had angered him at first, but when he failed to make her rail against her situation, he realized she had come to terms with the degradation and had moved on. Like him, she would never be able to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, but it did not seem to bother her a fraction of the way it troubled him.
    “I can still marry,” she told him. “I can even bear my husband children. One day, I will do this. Until then, I am content the way things are.”
    A deep resentment at what had happened to this petite woman brought McGregor’s eyes open. He was looking at the viewing screen, but he was seeing her pretty face. Dark as copper with thick black hair that glistened with blue lights, the one called Barbara-he refused to call her by the nickname that reminded him of torments he would not discuss even with Khiershon-had garnered Iyan’s respect and admiration in a very short length of time.
    “Why should I rant against the gods for what has happened to me?” she asked. “It serves no purpose. Why allow the ones who did this to me to win? What will I gain by turning against all men for what a few misguided, foolish old ones did?”
    “You are not enraged by this?” he demanded.
    She had put a hand on his arm. “I asked: what purpose would it serve?”
    “I am enraged for you!”
    Her velvet-brown eyes had softened. “Then be my friend, Captain McGregor.”
    “Friend?” The concept of a female as a friend was alien to him.
    “Aye, Captain.” She held her hand out to him. “Friends are those who understand one another and respect the feelings of the other. Will you be my friend? If so, take my hand and we will seal the bargain.”
    He had looked at her small palm, wondered at the pale gray color of the flesh-so different from the dark hue of her face and arms-and surprised himself by clasping that fragile hand in his callused one.
    “Nice to meet you, Captain McGregor,” she said, shaking his hand.
    He half-smiled at her. “Iyan,” he said, ducking his head. “My name is Iyan.”
    As he sat there remembering their conversation, he was astonished to find himself grinning foolishly. As soon as he realized he was doing it, he stopped, his face returning to its normal stern, forbidding cast. But the little dark woman flitted across his mind’s eye once again and the smile returned to its lips.
    “I think our captain has found himself a female,” the warrior at the navigational console whispered to the one at the communications console.
    “The gods help her,” the other man sighed.
     
    Caitlin dipped the washcloth into the basin of iced water and wrung it out. Her attention was on Cree’s gleaming face as she folded the cloth and placed it on his heated brow. Almost instantly, his eyelids opened and she found herself staring into the Reaper’s golden depths.
    “Did he...?” Cree croaked.
    “No. He let the ship pass unchallenged.”
    Cree sighed, closed his